Tommy, 13, is determined to be the number one speller in the country. He left for Washington, D.C., with his family on to compete in the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Tommy won his school spelling bee and the regional spelling bee to get to the national level. He studies using the official National Spelling Bee dictionary, "Webster’s Third New International Dictionary." It has more than 472,000 word entries, any one of which Tommy may be asked to spell at this week’s competition. He also uses a word list and a Kindle. His parents and teachers have been helping him prepare.